Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a 2019 monster film directed by Michael Dougherty and co-written by Dougherty with Zach Shields. A sequel to Godzilla (2014), it is the 35th film in the Godzilla franchise, the third film in Legendary's MonsterVerse, and the third Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio. It is dedicated to executive producer Yoshimitsu Banno and original Godzilla suit performer Haruo Nakajima, who both died in 2017.
The film stars Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch, Aisha Hinds, O'Shea Jackson Jr., David Strathairn, Ken Watanabe, and Zhang Ziyi. In the film, humans must rely on Godzilla and Mothra to defeat King Ghidorah, who has awakened other Titans to destroy the world.
The sequel was green-lit during the opening weekend of Godzilla, with Gareth Edwards expected to return to direct a trilogy. In May 2016, Edwards left the project. In October 2016, Dougherty and Shields were hired to rewrite the script. In January 2017, Dougherty was announced as the director. Principal photography began in June 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia, and wrapped in September 2017.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters was theatrically released on May 31, 2019 to mixed reviews with praise for the visual effects, action sequences, cinematography, and musical score while criticism was aimed at the pacing, tone, plot, and characters. The film was a box office disappointment, grossing $386 million worldwide against a production budget between $170–200 million and marketing costs between $100–150 million. A sequel, Godzilla vs. Kong, is scheduled to be released on May 21, 2021.
